Invalid&#39;s arm lift hand rail assembly



March 16, 1965 1.. F. CAKES 3,173,158

INVALID'S ARM LIFT HAND RAIL ASSEMBLY Filed July 10. 1962 FIGI FIG. 2

' INVENTOR. 9 LE LAND F. OAKES FIG. 3

United States Patent 0.

3,173,158 INVALIDS ARM LIFT HAND RAIL ASSEMBLY Leland F. (Bakes, 3321Ave. B, Council Bluffs, Iowa Filed July 10, 1962, Ser. No. 208,782 4Claims. (Cl. 5-331) This invention has for its object to provide armlift hand rails for beds whereby an invalid can reach up with his arms,grip a hand rail and either exercise or assist himself to reach asitting position at times when such person is too weak to sit up throughthe use of torso muscles alone, the invention being particularly adaptedfor removable attachment by bolts to beds in rest homes whereby they canbe manufactured and shipped for assembly to a bed at the place of use.

Still another object is to provide an arm lift bed hand rail assemblywhich serves the additional function of preventing an invalid fromfalling out of bed at night.

A further object is to provide a bed hand rail assembly including a handrail for the foot end of a bed adapted to be gripped by an invalid attimes when he is in a sitting position, the foot end hand rail beingsupported by an assembly of a C-shape which is open at the head end ofthe bed to permit the feet of a user to be swung over the edge of thebed without interference from the foot end hand rail supportingassembly.

A further object is to provide a bed hand rail which can be used at thehead end of a bed and which can be made with or without extra verticaland horizontal portions for preventing a person from rolling out of bed.

A particular object is to provide hand rail assemblies including aportion at the foot end of the bed and another toward the head end ofthe bed, these portions to be spaced apart to provide an openingtherebetween in the middle of the bed so that they do not interfere witha person who is climbing in or out of the bed at its middle portion.

' A further object is to provide bed hand rails which can be made ofvarious Widths that can be made to accommodate different widths or beds.

Not only are the hand rails helpful in getting in and out of bed, butthey also help a handicapped person to move around while in bed and alsoto get partial exercise by lifting the body While gripping the handrails while yet remaining in bed.

A particular object is to provide'a hand rail assembly which can fitconventional beds whereby expensive special beds are not needed, andwhich can be quickly at tached with simple tools.

A further object is to provide a Way to adjustably connect parts of thehand rails so that they can be adjusted to various widths to fitdifferent bed dimensions. A particular objective is to provide thisfeature by a cylindrical interconnector disposable through adjoininghollow hand rail sections and connected to each whereby one of theadjoining hollow rail sections can be sawed oif to make a perfectabutment between adjoining hollow hand rail sections such that theexterior of a hand rail is smooth and useable for hand-gripping even atthe places of joining and so that the abutment removes any danger ofpinching of the hands at an adjustment joint.

Other and further objects and advantages of the present invention willbe apparent from the following detailed description, drawings andclaims, the scope of the invention not being limited to the drawingsthemselves as the drawings are only for the purpose of illustrating away in i/hich the principles of this invention can be applied.

Other embodiments of the invention utilizing the same or equivalentprinciples may be used and structural ice changes may be made as desiredby those skilled in the art without' departing from the presentinvention and the purview of the appended claims.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation with the hand rail assembly of thisinvention attached thereto.

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the parts of FIG- URE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view showing the method of adjustableinterconnection of the sectional hand rails.

. Referring to the drawings, particularly to FIGURE 1, it will be seenthat a common bed is generally indicated at 10 having a head board 12, afoot board 14 and side boards 16, one of which latter is visible. Amattress is shown at 20.

In accordance with this invention, a hand rail assembly is providedcomprising a head end hand rail assembly Z4 and a foot end hand railassembly 30. The assemblies 24 and 30 each have certain similar partsamong which are lower horizontal anchor bars 38, vertical standards 40attached to those ends of the anchor bars 38 respectively which aredisposed near the foot end of the bed. The standards 40 are of suchlength as to extend upwardly from the top of the mattress 243 asubstantial distance, and there are joined to upper horizontal supportbars 44 which extend from the respective tandards 40 toward the head ofthe bed a distance preferably approximately the same or slightly greaterthan the length of the anchor bar 38.

As best seen in FIGURE 2, head end and foot end hand rails 54 and 52,also called hand rail 54) and further hand rail 52 extend transverselyof the bed and of the upper horizontal support bars 44 at preferably aright angle to the latter.

The end hand rails 50 and 52 are therefore spaced upwardly from the topof the mattress 20 a distance sufficient for receiving the body of asleeping person thereunder and the standards 40 are a vertical heighthfor this purpose.

The anchor bars 38 can be attached to the side boards 16 of a bed bymeans or keepers or bolts 50' removably extending through the side railsas is an effective and strong way of attachment. It will be seen thatthe anchor bars 38 extend generally longitudinally of the rails 16 andare enlongated. I

It is preferred that the anchor bars 38 be positioned such that a spaceexists between the hand rail assemblies 24 and 36 so that a user canconveniently climb out of the middle of the bed between the hand railassemblies.

Expressed in another way it will be seen that the horizontal supportbars 44 which are of the head end hand rail assembly 24 extendsubstantially horizontally and are connected to upper ends of therespective standards 40, at one of their ends, and at the other of theirends they are connected to respective ends of the head end hand rail 54)whereby a C-shape is defined by the head end hand rail 59 and therespective support bars 44, such C-shape being open toward the foot sideof said bed for providing an open space through which a person lying onsaid bed can move while rising to a sitting position, the position ofthe head end hand rail 50 being sufficiently close to the head end ofsaid bed so as not to interfere with a person thus rising from a lyingto a sitting position.

The hand rail assembly 24 at the head of the bed can also have avertical brace 76 attached to those ends of the respective anchor bar 38and upper horizontal support bar 44 which are closest to the head of thebed. The brace 70 is effective for supporting a retainer bar 80 whichextends between and is attached to the respective standards 40 and brace70, the retainer bar 3 80 being horizontally disposed and placed at aheight approximately between the mattress 2i and the respective upperhorizontal support bar 44, and as thus de scribed, the retainer bar 80and brace 70 further prevent a person from falling out of a bed.

As best seen in FIGURE 1 it will be seen that the members 44, and 38 ofeach assembly define a C- shaped member on each side of said bed wherebythere are two such'C-shaped members for each hand rail assembly, theupper horizontal support bars 44 defining an upper'portion of eachC-shaped member, the standards 40 define a downwardly extending memberthereof, and the anchor bars 38 define the remainder of each C-shapedassembly.

In operation, it will be seen that a person lying on the bed can reachthe head end hand rail for lifting himself up to a sitting position andthat the head end hand rail 50 is so close to the head board 12 as notto interfere with the raising of the body. Hereafter, the invalid personcan reach the foot rail 52 for pulling himself and turning himself intoa position for climbing out across the middle of the mattress edge.

Referring to FIGURES 2 and 3, it will be seen that the hand rails 50 and52 have three sections including two side sections 99 and 92 and acenter section 94 of the hand rail 52 and two side sections and 104 anda center section 104 of the hand rail 50.

The hand rail sections 90, 92, 94 are all of the same outside diameteras are also the hand rail sections 100, 102, 104.

As best seen in FIGURE 3, all of these hand rail sections are hollowwith cylindrical inner walls which are co-axial with their cylindricalouter walls and the inner wall of all sections are of the same diameter,this diameter being cooperative with and slightly larger than andcomplemental to the outside diameter of the cylindrical wall of theadjoining member 120, so that the joining member can slide into theadjacent sections of the hand rails as best seen in FIG- URE 3.

As best seen in FIGURE 3, screws are employed for screwing respectiveadjacent end rail sections to the respective adjoining member 120.

The screws extend through the respective hand rail sections such as 90and 94 and into the respective joining section 120.

As thus described, it is believed that this invention has fulfilled theobjectives above set forth.

From the foregoing description, it is thought to be obvious that a bedhand rail for invalids constructed in accordance with my invention isparticularly well adapted for use, by reason of the convenience andfacility with which it may be assembled and operated, and it will alsobe obvious that my invention can be changed and modified withoutdeparting from the principles and spirit thereof, and for this reason Ido not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the precisearrangement and formation of the several parts herein shown in carryingout my invention in practice, except as claimed.

1 claim:

1. In combination: a bed having side rails, and a hand rail assembly forattachment to said bed, said hand rail assembly comprising a horizontalhand rail adapted to be disposed across the head end portion of said bedin a position spaced above the upper surface of said bed a sufiicientdistance for permitting a handicapped person to recline on said bedbeneath said hand rail at such a distance that a handicapped person cangrip said hand rail while lying on the bed for using his arms to assisthimself in the movement of his body to a different position on said bed,said combination being free of obstruction in areas on each side of saidhand rail sufficiently to permit said hand rail to be readily grasped bya person lying in said bed, and hand rail maintaining means attached toends of said hand rail and extending downwardly therefrom at the sidesof said bed, and connected to the side rails of said bed on each side ofsaid bed respectively for maintaining said hand rail in the describedposition, in which said means for maintaining said hand rail in saidposition comprises a pair of anchor bars disposed one on each side ofsaid bed, and keepers interconnecting said anchor bars and bed railsrespectively, said hand rail maintaining means further comprising twostandards disposed one on each side of said bed and each connected to arespective anchor bar and extending upwardly therefrom, said hand railmaintaining means further comprising two support bars extendinggenerally horizontally and each having one of its ends attached to anupper end of a respective standard and each connected at its other endto a respective end of said hand rail, said hand rail and said supportbars defining a C-shaped configuration in top plan view for providing anopen space between said support bars, said hand rail being spacedsufiiciently close to the head end of said bed that a person lying insaid bed can freely move through said open space in the process ofmoving upwardly into a sitting position, said standards being disposedin position spaced from the ends of said bed sufiiciently to positionsaid standards for efiectively preventing a sleeping person lying onsaid bed from rolling out of said bed.

2. The combination of claim 1 in which said anchor bars extendlongitudinally of said bed side rails a substantial distance and inwhich said keepers are spaced apart substantial distances along saidanchor bars for dispersing the strain along said side rails to preventsplitting thereof.

3. The combination of claim 1 in which said hand rail is composed of aplurality of interconnected telescoping sections whereby said hand railcan be adjusted to fit beds of various widths.

4. The combination of claim 1 in further combination with a further railextending horizontally across said bed intermediate the ends of said bedand closer to the center of said bed than to either end of said bed,said further hand rail being in a position disposed at a distance abovesaid bed for allowing a person to recline thereunder and for adapting tothe purpose of being gripped by an invalid while he is sitting up insaid bed and reaching forwardly, and means attached to the outer ends ofsaid further hand rail and extending downwardly therefrom on each sideof said bed and there being attached to said bed side rails, said meansextending downwardly from said further hand rail being substantiallyC-shaped in side elevation with the open side of the O-shaped openingdisposed toward the head end of said bed so as to provide a spacethrough which the feet of a handicapped person can swing when such aperson sits on the side of said bed and swings his legs over the side ofsaid bed in the usual fashion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS522,342 Helander July 3, 1894 933,740 Bond Sept. 14, 1909 2,196,511Wagner et-al. Apr. 9, 1940 2,722,693 Wolf Nov. 8, 1955- 2,798,652 EastonJuly 9, 1957

1. IN COMBINATION: A BED HAVING SIDE RAILS, AND A HAND RAIL ASSEMBLY FORATTACHMENT TO SAID BED, SAID HAND RAIL ASSEMBLY COMPRISING A HORIZONTALHAND RAIL ADAPTED TO BE DISPOSED ACROSS THE HEAD END PORTION OF SAID BEDIN A POSITION SPACED ABOVE THE UPPER SURFACE OF SAID BED A SUFFICIENTDISTANCE FOR PERMITTING A HANDICAPPED PERSON TO RECLINED ON SAID BEDBENEATH SAID HAND RAIL AT SUCH A DISTANCE THAN A HANDICAPED PERSON CANGRIP SAID HAND RAIL WHILE LYING ON THE BED FOR USING HIS ARMS TO ASSISTHIMSELF IN THE MOVEMENT OF HIS BODY TO A DIFFERENT POSITION ON SAID BED,SAID COMBINATIOIN BEING FREE OF OBSTRUCTION IN AREAS ON EACH SIDE OFSAID HAND RAIL SUFFICIENTLY TO PERMIT SAID HAND RAIL TO BE READILYGRASPED BY A PERSON LYING IN SAID BED, AND HAND RAIL MAINTAINING MEANSATTACHED TO ENDS OF SAID HAND RAIL AND EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY THEREFROM ATTHE SIDES OF SAID BED, AND CONNECTED TO THE SIDE RAILS OF SAID BED ONEACH SIDE OF SAID BED RESPECTIVELY FOR MAINTAINING SAID HAND RAIL IN THEDESCRIBED POSITION, IN WHICH SAID MEANS FOR MAINTAINING SAID HAND RAILIN SAID POSITION COMPRISES A PAIR ON ANCHOR BARS DISPOSED ONE ON EACHSIDE OF SAID BED, AND KEEPERS INTERCONNECTING SAID ANCHOR BARS AND BEDRAILS RESPECTIVELY, SAID HAND RAIL MAINTAINING MEANS FURTHER COMPRISINGTWO STANDARDS DISPOSED ONE ON EACH SIDE OF SAID BED AND EACH CONNECTEDTO A RESPECTIVE ANCHOR BAR AND EXTENDING UPWARDLY THEREFROM SAID HANDRAIL MAINTAINING MEANS FURTHER COMPRISING TWO SUPPORT BARS EXTENDINGGENERALLY HORIZONTALLY AND EACH HAVING ONE OF ITS ENDS ATTAHCED TO ANUPPER END OF A RESPECTIVE STANDARD AND EACH CONNECTED AT ITS OTHER ENDTO A RESPECTIVE END OF SAID HAND RAIL,SAID HAND RAIL AND SAID SUPPORTBARS DEFINING A C-SHAPED CONFIGURATION IN TOP PLAN VIEW FOR PROVIDING ANOPEN SPACE BETWEEN SAID SUPPORT BARS, SAID HAND RAIL BEING SPACEDSUFFICIENTLY CLOSE TO THE HEAD END OF SAID BED THAT A PERSON LYING INSAID BED CAN FREELY MOVE THROUGH SAID OPEN SPACE IN THE PROCESS OFMOVING UPWARDLY INTO A SITTING POSITION, SAID STANDARDS BEING DISPOSEDIN POSITION SPACED FROM THE ENDS OF SAID BED SUFFICIENTLY TO POSITIONSAID STANDARDS FOR EFFECTIVELY PREVENTING A SLEEPING PERSON LYING ONSAID BED ROLLING OUT OF SAID BED.